Columbus tax preparer agrees to injunction

Court documents show Carter consented to the order without admitting to the allegations against her. The order issuing the injunction was signed Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock.

The government alleges Carter, who does business as Cynthia’s Tax Service, prepared returns for customers that reported false income and expenses and falsely claimed several tax credits, including the first-time-homebuyer credit for which the customers were ineligible.

Documents show the Internal Revenue Service paid out more than $900,000 in erroneous refunds to Carter’s customers as a result.

The order does not prevent the government from seeking criminal charges against Carter.